Stocks extended their recent rally on Wednesday, with the Dow industrials back in positive territory for the year and the S&P 500 briefly rising 2 percent as the euro-zone rescue fund was set to get approval from all EU members.

Momentum buying, or a move back into equities after the broader S&P 500 closed on Tuesday its largest six-day rally since March 2009, was cited as another reason for U.S. stocks' advance.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 194.36 points, or 1.70 percent, at 11,610.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 22.51 points, or 1.88 percent, at 1,218.05, after climbing 2.1 percent to an intraday high at 1,220.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 41.45 points, or 1.60 percent, at 2,624.48.

At Wednesday's session high, the S&P 500 was up 13.5 percent from the intraday low hit last Tuesday.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)